Charleston Advancement Academy (CAA) filed a federal lawsuit March 8 against the South Carolina Public Charter School District (SCPCSD). It also is running a paid media and website campaign that blames the district for “trying to shut us down.”
The state district’s board of trustees voted Jan. 19 to revoke the school’s charter based on deficient academic performance and questionable financial structure based on state law requirements.
CAA is an alternative public charter school with students ranging in ages 14 to 21 across its North Charleston and James Island campuses. The school allows older students and students who were not successful in the mainstream public school system to complete high school graduation requirements.
CAA is suing SCPCSD and its board chair John Payne of Columbia for violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as well as the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, according to the complaint.
A website called Save CAA website summarizes the school’s stance on why it has filed a lawsuit against the district. It said, “The South Carolina Public Charter School District has moved to revoke CAA’s charter without a revocation review process.”
A paid newspaper ad said the district had “knowingly, willfully and intentionally discriminated against CAA students” and “has bullied us for years.”
CAA’s board chair, Nadine Deif of Isle of Palms, confirmed today with the Charleston City Paper that CAA is currently in a revocation review process to appeal the board’s January decision.
“We are currently fighting this revocation,” Deif said.
SCPCSD Chief Communications Officer Drew Johnson of Columbia also confirmed today that CAA is appealing the revocation.
“[CAA] is currently in the middle of the revocation process,” Johnson said. “They have a hearing in May.”
The school may close June 30 if the district board’s revocation remains in place after a hearing and any appeals, Johnson said in a January statement.
Deif and Johnson declined to comment further due to the ongoing litigation. CAA’s attorney Tyler Turner of Columbia did not respond to the City Paper’s inquiries.
Meanwhile, Dief argued that the school remains vital to the Charleston area.
“The school is running great right now,” she said. “We’re a great school. We’re independently run … we are financially very strong. In terms of our success rate, it’s pretty good given that we are an Alternative Education Campus [and] recruit high school dropouts or children at risk of dropping out.
“Our objective is to re-engage them and help them attain that high school diploma, which is our mission — and that’s what we do. We do it every day.”
SCPCSD Superintendent Chris Neeley said in January that the district was “inquiring about” the governance of CAA after the impromptu closure of the James Island campus from Jan. 3-6.
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